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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28353225">A Midnight Encounter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bibliosmia13/pseuds/Bibliosmia13'>Bibliosmia13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides Oneshots and Short Stories [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy, Gen, mermaid au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:13:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>389</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28353225</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bibliosmia13/pseuds/Bibliosmia13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Virgil can’t sleep. It isn’t an unusual occurrence, but this night might be a little different than ordinary.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides Oneshots and Short Stories [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076420</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Midnight Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Virgil groaned into his pillow. He hated nights like this; there was nothing wrong or pressing or anything of any importance, but he still couldn't slow his brain enough to sleep. That was how, after another half an hour of restlessness, Virgil found himself gathering a jacket and setting off towards the ocean.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He navigated through rocks and tide pools, mind on autopilot until something farther up the beach caught his eye. Virgil inched through the sand until he was close enough to get a good look at the figure. At first, the unconscious figure had looked perfectly ordinary aside from his sopping wet hair, but from the man's hips down, he had a long, crimson tail like that of some sort of fish.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, Virgil had heard stories of mers near his small, seaside town since he was a child, but they were just that, stories.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A groan slipped past the mer's lips, startling Virgil back to the present and sending him diving behind a nearby wall of rock. He watched as the mer shifted, displaying a nasty gash on his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Probably what knocked him out in the first place, Virgil mused. He dithered on the spot, tempted to help the creature, but also fearful of what it would do to him. In nearly all of the stories he had heard, mers were beautiful yet terrible creatures. They used their physical appeal to lure humans out to the sea to drown and eat them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Virgil didn't have to decide, however, because the mer shakily sat up, seeming unscathed aside from the streak of drying blood trailing down the side of his face. He looked around, and Virgil pressed himself closer to the rock he was behind. Luckily, the creature's eyes passed right over Virgil's hiding spot, and soon enough he started pushing himself further back into the water.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next day, Virgil found himself wondering whether or not he had imagined the entire encounter. And the next day, and the next. He couldn’t get the memory off his mind. Virgil found himself wandering back to the same place nearly every night, almost hoping that the mythical being would appear again, despite the dangers that could pose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Little did he know, he wasn’t the only one returning each night in hopes of a glimpse of another world.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
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